BORIS Johnson met Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev without officials present while foreign secretary, he has told MPs.
The Prime Minister said he “certainly” met the former Evening Standard proprietor, an ex-KGB officer, in Italy, after being asked to confirm details of previous encounters while attending the Commons Liaison Committee on Wednesday.
It comes amid an investigation by the Commons Intelligence and Security Committee over the appointment of Lebedev’s son, Evgeny Lebedev, to the House of Lords.
The appointment has been shrouded in controversy after The Sunday Times alleged security services withdrew an assessment that granting the peerage posed a national security risk after the Prime Minister intervened.
Asked by Labour’s Dame Diana Johnson if he met with Alexander Lebedev without officials on April 28 2018, Johnson replied: “I certainly have met the gentleman in question who used to be the proprietor of the London Evening Standard when I was mayor of London.
“I certainly am not going to deny having met Alexander Lebedev, I certainly have.”
Johnson added: “I have certainly met him without officials.
“I met him on a very few occasions.
“On the occasion you are mentioning, if that was when I was foreign secretary, then yes.”
Johnson said he reported to officials that he met Lebedev.
Labour's deputy leader, Angela Rayner, said: “Boris Johnson has finally admitted to meeting his billionaire former KGB friend, without officials, just days after attending a high-level NATO summit. As foreign secretary, Johnson’s carelessness with words put people in danger. He must come clean about what he disclosed to Alexander Lebedev.
“This is a man now sanctioned by Canada, with close links to the Kremlin, and investments in Crimea. Yet the Prime Minister had accepted thousands of pounds in gifts and made his son a Lord in our Parliament.
“Boris Johnson’s care-free attitude to British security runs deep in his bones. This is a pattern of behaviour dating back years - he puts personal friendships above the public interest.
“This Prime Minister is a threat to national security and is unfit for his office.”
